Little Falls transcript., 1887-04-22

DelnA Cnrious Eest1vlIls4 81 BarbA16He
sS sgf ana Semi-C Cfviitxad Races. 5ss Dc


& Dsiae Carious Feats tsyiilss 81 sBarbAs61s
\ RI ana semi Cfviiisssi Races.
8 Sir John Laib bbock, who is high a1-
thority On the subject Of savage races,
recently made an interesting address,
n which he declared that the savage
races Of Ito day, in many parts u the
world, are making pro agress toW::lra.
civilization. He pointed out, al;sssFs.s 4.
other facts. that some Of ths lowest
races are found to- have q great NUM-
Der q rules aud Gus toms, which must
Lave crown up in, tho process of tiina.i5
and which prove that these. races have
advanced .frbIll a more et, nlrletely saw
! slge state. The general inference THAT
I he draw SIS that all man K nd ], ven III n
l its lowest 5bsasches, il risiiagg grad aalIy
80 4 higher degree of inteiigssel, O..
Some interesting facts about stys,g gesS
were instalesd to make good the argu-.
ment. The lowest and most barbarDns
a53race i'll the world is supposed to be Il.
tribe called the 6''..Bosiesnlans, a
:, branch Of the Hottentots 1t is said Of
them that instead Of washing, they.
cover their bodies all over with thick
myers Of dirty grease. ItWas Of this
race that Dr.. Livingstone, the. famous
African traveller. said .sABosieslnau,
certainly in his ,nienHand all his ges-.::
lures, has much more resemblance to
al ape tdan d man" I'r =, 5r.-.@.
At the other extreme are the AIaoris
of New Zealand, who are probably the
most intelligent and wen-mannered
of modern savages. They have given
up cannibalism. have adopted the
European dress, are submissive to law,
and, when engaged in war. use The
milder methods Of Christian warfare.
- One of the worst races is that Of the
Australian natives who seem incapa-
bic OF receiving any considerable de-
gree of civilization. They have been
in contact with the English settlers for
Il century, and yet have learned moth
Ing from them but horseback riding
and Il taste for strong drink. g.,
Some features of barbarous and semi
civilized races. noted by Sir John Lub-
book, are very curious. Fer instance,
the Australians, New Zealautlers,
Esqui1aaux and other savage people,
ares totally ignorant of the universal
Z Eur2ns:;.a custom, Of s;eluting with Il
Aj>:> The different ways of showing
!cruHAaeb for a superior are amusing.
ill., May, when in presence Of one
%'AoIG ha Ecgards as above him, imme-
ll.arely sits down the South Africans
s.frl' their backs upon their betters
some ot tho Hindoo tribes reveal their
st&p,est BY putting the thumb to the
cll,} Of the nose, and wriggyling the
ctber Tngors Our boy-readers know
Who1hor or not, they employ this ges-
, tuge1o signify respect. = :.s, -~~
Sir John Lubbock tells us that in
many points che marriage customs OF
s;svages bear a Resemblance to those Of
the civilized races: A wife, among all
races, WAS IN early times Il captive of
wal; and from this arose the custom Of
marriage by capture. "All over the
world, w. he says, ''it was found that,
even after friendly arrangements had
been made between the parents of the
happy couple, the bridegroom always
made some pretense Of carrying off his
bride: and probably to the same origin
as this ceremony may be traced the
custom Of lifting the bride over the
doorstep, which occurred among the
Romans and other nations ~, -: II
The religious life and beliefs Of many
savage races are hard to understand.
These people seem to think that all
things that move are endowed with
life; and so believe that animals,
water, flowers and other moving things
have spirits, like men. ''The worship
OF animals" says Sir John, ''is found
widely existing over the whole world !;
and this worship might possibly be
traced to the common habit of calling
families after animals which easily led
to a belief that families were related to,
CT descended from, the animals whose
names they bore; and ultimately this
grew into,a worship" ..s;.. =. -
Savage races are found, to be orig
finally temperate !; but as soon as they
come into contact VITA civilized men,
and learn the effects cf strong drink,
they use it to excess and rapidly be-
: come drunks,rels. Some savage peoples
have been destrosea lily this terrible
vice. Youtil2s $Coue)unioa. 3ls ( 5sss4@
tg It 5 - 3